Tanker Truck Flips, Closes I-17

2 years ago

(KFYI News) – A tanker truck carrying hot asphalt oil drifted off the roadway and hit a highway sign post in the median of I-17 early Friday morning, flipping the truck onto its side and closing both sides of the highway.

DPS says driver fatigue may have been a factor in the crash around 5:00 am, which left the truck dangling from the concrete median dividing the northbound from the southbound lanes, with the wheels on the northbound side of the divider and the tank itself on the southbound side.

Asphalt oil had leaked from the tanker into the southbound lanes.

Officers say the driver of the truck died in the crash.

DPS is reporting that the closure is expected to last into the afternoon as crews drain the remaining oil from the tanker and then try to flip the semi upright before it can be towed away.